Abstract
Fishermen often describe feeling alienated and ill-informed regarding the planning and decision making that accompanies fisheries management. Like scientists and resource managers, they are greatly concerned by changes in marine ecosystems, the effect this will have on the sustainability of livelihoods, and the knock-on effects to the communities they live in. In recent years, European fisheries management has encouraged participation and engagement to provide opportunities for managers, scientists and fishermen to work closely on the common problems they face. In successful participatory projects where sustainable changes in working practices have been achieved, the fishermen have been included as collaborating partners and are fully integrated in the design and implementation of field studies. Fishermen often have innovative ideas that can result in greater sustainability of ecosystems, but not the institutional support to implement them. Overcoming these barriers requires a better understanding of fishermens’ perception of the issues, and better integration of their knowledge into research. Our recent experience of trying to enable deeper and more systematic engagement among fishermen and scientists throughout Europe during the GAP programme (Bridging the gap between science, stakeholders and policy; see www.gap2.eu) reveals how complex incentives influence the roles that the research partners play. With reform of the Common Fisheries Policy imminent and the EuropeanCommission’s desire for stakeholders to play a leading role in managing fisheries, there is a need for establishing governance structures that enable stronger participation of stakeholders in research.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
‘Participatory action research’is a type of collaborative or cooperative research, and thus about processes as well as scientific outcomes. It involves stakeholders and scientists working (and learning) together in the planning and delivery of research. The common aim is to improve the knowledge base and quality of scientific information for management advice and legislation.
- 2.
References
Agrawal, A. (1995). Dismantling the divide between indigenous and scientific knowledge. Development and Change, 26, 413–439.
Bergmann, M., Hinz, H., Blyth, R. E., Kaiser, M. J., Rogers, S. I., & Armstrong, M. (2004). Using knowledge from fishers and fisheries scientists to identify possible groundfish ‘Essential Fish Habitats’. Fisheries Research, 66, 373–379.
Berkes, F. (1993). Traditional ecological knowledge in perspective. Pp 1–9. In J.T. Inglis (ed.) Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Concepts and Cases. Ottawa: International Program on Traditional Ecological Knowledge, International Development Research Center.
CEC (Commission of the European Community). (2002). Towards a reinforced culture of consultation and dialogue—General principles and minimum standards for consultation of interested parties by the Commission. Brussels COM (2002) communication 704.
CEC (Commission of the European Community). (2009). GREEN PAPER: Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. Brussels: DGMARE.
CEC (Commission of the European Community) (2012). Commission non-paper: key points on regionalisationhvttp://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/reform/docs/regionalisation_en.pdf.
CION. (2012). Proposal for a regulation of the european parliament and of the council on the common fisheries Policy. Non paper from the Danish presidency. 12514/11 PECHE 187 CODEC 1166– COM (2011) 425 final. http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/12/st09/st09016.en12.pdf
Cash, D., Clark, W., Alcock, F., Dickson, N., Eckley, N., & Jaager, J. (2002). Saliency, credibility, legitimacy and boundaries: linking research, assessment and decision making. John F. Kennedy school of government, Harvard university faculty research working paper series RWP02–046.
Clark, W. C., Mitchell, R. B., Cash, D. W., & Alcock, F. (2002). Information as Influence: How institutions mediate the impact of scientific assessments on global environmental affairs. John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP02–044.
Creative Research Ltd. (2009). A fishermen’s tale: being a fishermen in England in 2009. December 2009/ Job No. 578/ Version 5. Creative Research Ltd: London. p. 146.
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). (2009). The state of world fisheries and aquaculture 2008 Rome: FAO.
Feinholtz, C. (2011). Engaging stakeholders in coastal management through participatory mapping. NOAA Digital Coast Webinar Series. Available at: http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/webinar/archive.html
Felt, L. (1994). Two tales of a fish: the social bases of indigenous knowledge among commercial atlantic salmon fisheries. Pp 251–286. In C. L. Dyer & , J. R. McGoodwin (Eds) Folk Management of the World’s Fisheries. Boulder: University of Colorado Press.
Grafton, R. Q., & Silva-Echenique, J. (1997). How to manage nature? strategies, predator-prey models and chaos. Marine Resource Economics, 12, 127–143.
Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967) The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Aldine Publishing Company, Chicago.
Hoefnagel, E., Burnett, A., & Wilson, D. C. (2006). The knowledge base of co-management. In: The Knowledge Base for Fisheries Management. L. Motos and D.C. Wilson (eds.) Elsevier, Amsterdam. Developments in Aquaculture and Fisheries Science Series, 36, 85–108.
Holm, P. (2003). Crossing the Border: On the relationship between science and fishermens’s knowledge in a Resource Management Context. MAST, 2(1), pp. 5–33.
ICES. (2011). Advisory committee. http://www.ices.dk/advice/icesadvice.asp
Jacobsen, R., Ramirez, P., & Wilson, D. C. K. (2011). ‘Empowerment and regulation—dilemmas in participatory fisheries science’. Fish and Fisheries DOI: 10.1111/j.1467–2979.2011.00434.x.
Jentoft, S., & Davis, A. (1993). Self and sacrifice: An investigation of small boat fisher individualism and its implication for producer cooperatives. Human Organization, 52(4), 356.
Johnson, T. R. (2007). Integrating fishermen and their knowledge in the science policy process: case studies of cooperative research in the Northeastern U.S. Dissertation: Rutgers University.
Johnson, T. R., & van Densen, W. L. T. (2007). The benefits and organization of cooperative research for fisheries management.—ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64, 834–840.
Latour, B. (1987). Science in Action. Cambridge: Harvard University.
Leeuwis, C., & Pyburn, R. (eds.). (2002). Wheelbarrows full of frogs: Social learning in rural resource management Assen. The Netherlands: Koninklijke Van Gorcum.
Mackinson, S. (2001). Integrating local and scientific knowledge: An example in fisheries science. Environmental Management, 27(4), 533–545.
Mackinson, S., & Nøttestad, L. (1998). Combining local and scientific knowledge. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 8(4), 481–490.
Mackinson, S., & van der Kooij, J. (2006). Perceptions of fish distribution, abundance and behaviour: Observations revealed by alternative survey strategies made by scientific and fishing vessels. Fisheries Research, 81, 306–315.
Mackinson, S., Neville, S., Raicevich, S., & Worsøe Clausen, L. (eds) (2008). Good practice guide to participatory research between fisheries stakeholders and scientists. GAP project deliverable 1, pp. 23.
Mackinson, S., & Neville, S. (eds). (2009). Bridging the GAP between science and Phase 1– Common Ground 1, Final Report. Pp. 46. Available on request steve.mackinson@cefas.co.uk
Mackinson, S., Wilson, D. C., Galiay, P., & Deas, P. (2010). Engaging stakeholders in marine research. Marine Policy, 35, 18–24.
Maurstad, A. (2001). Trapped in biology: an interdisciplinary attempt to integrate fish harvesters’ knowledge into norwegian fisheries management. pp 135–152. In B. A Neis & L. Felt (Eds) Finding Our Sea Legs: Linking Fishery People and Their Knowledge with Science and Management. St. John’s: ISER Books.
Moreno-Báez, M., Orr, B. J., Cudney-Bueno, R., & Shaw, W. W. (2010). Using fishers’ local knowledge to aid management at regional scales: Spatial distribution of small-scale fisheries in the Northern Gulf of California, Mexico. Bulletin of Marine Science, 86(2), 339–353.
Murray, G., Neis, B., & Johnsen, P. (2006). Lessons learned from reconstructing interactions between local ecological knowledge, fisheries science, and fisheries management in the commercial fisheries of the Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Human Ecology, 4, 549–571.
Neis, B., & Felt, L. (2001). Finding our sea legs: linking fishery people and their knowledge with science and management. St. John’s: ISER Books.
Nielsen, J. R., Degnbol, P., Viswanathan, K., Ahmed, M., Hara, M., & Abdullah, N. M. R. (2004). Fisheries co-management—an institutional innovation? Lessons from Sout East Asia and Southern Africa. Marine Policy 28.
Ommer, R. E., Perry, R. I., & Neis, B. (2007). Bridging the gap between social and natural fisheries science: why is this necessary and how can it be done? American Fisheries Society Symposium 49, 587–595.
Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the commons New York: Cambridge University Press.
Pálsson, G. (1995). Learning by fishing: practical science and scientific practice. In: S. Hanna & M. Munasinghe (Eds.), Property rights in a social and ecological context: case studies and design applications. Stockholm: The Beijer Institute (1995) 85–97.
Pederson, J., & Hall-Arber, M. (1999). Fish habitat: a focus on new england fishermens’s perspectives. American Fisheries Society Symposium, 22, 188–211.
Pinkerton, E. (1989). Introduction: attaining better fisheries management through co-management—prospects, problems and propositions. Pp. 3–36. In E. Pinkerton (ed.) Cooperative Management of Local Fisheries. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
Prigent, M., Fontanelle, G., Rochet, M. J., & Trenkel, V. M. (2008). Using cognitive maps to investigate fishers’ ecosystem objectives and knowledge.Ocean and Coastal management, 51(6), 450–462.
Reid, A. N., & Hartley, T. W. (eds.). (2006). Partnership for a common purpose: Cooperative Fisheries Research and Management. American Fisheries Society Symposium 52, Proceedings of the Symposium Fisheries Society/Sea Grant Symposium Partnerships for a Common Purpose: Cooperative Fisheries Research and Management held in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.A., 13–14 September 2005. Bethesda: American Fisheries Society.
Rochet, M. J., Prigent, M., Bertrand, A., Carpentier, A., Coppin, F., Delpech, J. P., Fontenelle, G., Foucher, E., Mahé, K., Rostiaux, E., & Trenkel, V. M. (2008). Ecosystem trends: Evidence for agreement between fishers’ perceptions and scientific information. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65, 1057–1068.
Schwach, V., Bailey, D., Christensen, A.-S., Delaney, A. E., Degnbol, P., van Densen, W. L. T., Petter, P., McLay, A., Nielsen, K. N., Pastoors, M. A., Reeves, S. A., & Wilson, D. C. (2007). “Policy and knowledge in fisheries management: A policy brief. ICES. Journal of Marine Science, 64(4), 798–803.
Verweij, M. C., van Densen, W. L. T., & Mol., A., J. P. (2010). The tower of Babel: Different perceptions and controversies on change and status of North Sea fish stocks in multi-stakeholder settings. Marine Policy, 34(3), 522–533.
Wilson, D. C. (2003). “Fisheries Co-management and the Knowledge Base for Management Decisions” Chap. 5. In D. C. Wilson, J. R. Nielsen & P. Degnbol (eds). The Fisheries Co-management Experience: Accomplishments, Challenges and Prospects. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Acahdemic Publishers.
Wilson, D. C. (2009). The Paradoxes of Transparency: Science and the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management in Europe. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Wilson, D. C., Nielsen, J. R., & Degnbol, P. (2006). Local ecological knowledge and practical fisheries management in the tropics: A Policy Brief. Marine Policy, 30, 794–801.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank all the participants in the GAP project, without which this work would not have been possible. A special thank you to Paulina Ramirez-Monsalve and Rikke Becker Jacobsen and participants of the interviews.This work was support by European Commission Grant Agreement 217639 (GAP1) 266544 (GAP2), Defra M1001.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mackinson, S., Wilson, D. (2014). Building bridges among scientists and fishermen with participatory action research. In: Urquhart, J., Acott, T., Symes, D., Zhao, M. (eds) Social Issues in Sustainable Fisheries Management. MARE Publication Series, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7911-2_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7911-2_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-7910-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-7911-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)